Denver and the West

Ditmer: Colorado Lottery's waste takes away from conservation

A clerk at a Longmont gas station sells lottery tickets in 2005. An audit reports payouts to Colorado merchants is higher than the national average. (Denver Post file)

If you gamble, you probably lose more than you win. In Colorado, however, there's usually a silver lining. Even if your lottery ticket isn't a winner, everyone in the state shares valuable and enduring returns through the preservation and protection of open space. Except, of course, when the Colorado Lottery wastes the proceeds on employee bonuses and bloated payouts.

Lottery proceeds were designated for our natural heritage — to preserve, protect, enhance and manage the state's open space legacy, rivers, wildlife, parks and trails, so that residents and visitors in the future may still enjoy the great state we have today. Big money, and even bigger responsibility.

Colorado voters approved the lottery in 1980, but the legislature began to use the money elsewhere, and voters rebelled. In 1992, highly motivated and resourceful citizens who valued Colorado's unmatched environment crafted a constitutional amendment authorizing the Great Outdoors Colorado Conservation Trust Fund. Voters approved.

Forty percent of lottery proceeds go to the Conservation Trust Fund, administered by the Department of Local Affairs, to enhance our natural resources. Another 10 percent goes to Colorado State Parks, which no longer receives general fund dollars. The other 50 percent goes to GOCO. An appointed board determines substantially equal distribution to four beneficiaries — wildlife resources and outdoor recreation through state parks and wildlife, to county and municipalities for open space and natural areas, and to local governments for matching dollars to Conservation Trust Fund grants. Grants are competitive and many require matching funds.

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Results are amazing, despite population growth from about 3 million in 1982 to 5.3 million today. We protect and preserve much of what makes Colorado very special — our great outdoors.

Over 20 years, GOCO has granted more than $777 million to 3,500 projects across the state, small ones and large in all 64 counties. They include more than 1,150 community parks and outdoor areas, 725 miles of inviting trails, and protecting 1 million acres of open space. Lottery proceeds above GOCO's official cap fund school capital construction.

Against this sterling record, the state lottery office has been using funds that should have gone to designated beneficiaries. Impeccable business practices for the lottery agency should be a top priority, but weren't, as Karen E. Crummy reported in Tuesday's Denver Post.

A state audit listed missteps:

• Last year, the lottery paid out nearly $400,000 in employee bonuses to a staff of about 31. Forty-one states have lotteries, while only 15 pay such bonuses.

• Colorado's payments to retailers and its prize payout percentages were both higher than the national average. The lottery could have saved $23.7 million of retailer payments between 2009 and 2012, and $10 million in prize payouts in 2010. That's $33.7 million that didn't go to designated beneficiaries.

About three years ago GOCO, legislators and others saw that half-a-billion-dollar ticket sales had double-digit revenue increases, but money for lottery beneficiaries lagged far behind. It was one more shortcoming in an office known for business inadequacies. Thankfully, state officials are now working to correct them.

Fires and floods have wreaked havoc on Colorado, and much is on open space and parks. "When GOCO passed, no one planned for such catastrophic events, but fortunately they saw the need for flexibility within our mission," mused Lise Aangenbrug, GOCO executive director. "St. Vrain State Park and Eldorado Canyon have both been damaged; other sites are drying out. We'll see what needs to be done. ... [O]ur state parks and natural areas are very important."

We benefit from the foresight and determination of Coloradans 30 years ago, protecting our magnificent public lands. We must continue the stewardship.

• • •

If you're yearning to head for the hills, and golden aspen, "John Fielder's Guide to Colorado's Great Outdoors" is an essential guide, with much information and great photographs.

Joanne Ditmer's column on environmental and preservation issues began in The Denver Post in 1962.

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